September 10-15, 2007, British Columbia and Washington State

After we left the Hyder-Stewart area, most nights we did not have internet access; so it has been a long time since we have posted to our blog. We will be grouping days together. There were a few native villages on our route where totem poles were erected. Carol is intrigued with them so had to take pictures of every totem. Some were very tall and weathered. One of the tribes had a very nice RV campground, where we spent the night. The next day a beautiful rainbow stayed in the sky ahead of us for about ten minutes, but we experienced very little rain. At times there was even a double rainbow, and it appeared we were very near the “pot of gold.” The picture was taken through the dirty motorhome window.

We crossed the border of British Columbia and the US at Sumas, near Bellingham, WA. Just north of Seattle we ferried to the Olympic Peninsula. Three nights we spent at a delightful campground just outside the Olympic National Park. Some of the trees had been felled, but the lower part of the trees were retained and had been carved into different objects.

One afternoon we took a hike and found some delicious blackberries along the path. You should have seen our mouths and hands when we finally decided it was time to move on.

A drive into the park took us 17 miles up Hurricane Ridge, more than 5,200 feet above sea level. On the way to the top, we drove through thick clouds–like driving through heavy fog. It was overcast when we started, but there were beautiful sunny skies when we reached the top. At the top when you looked down, it was a solid valley of white–like a blanket of snow covered everything; but it was only clouds.
Since it was later in the day, we decided to stay on top of the mountain to watch the sun set.

Another day we drove to the Hoh Rain Forest. It did not rain while we were there, but there were puddles indicating it had rained recently. The Hall of Mosses Trail was filled with ferns and moss on the trees. We learned about “nurse logs”–dead trees that provide nourishment for new tree growth.

Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007 Hyder, AK

Today we visited the bears again early in the morning. Every time we were there we were blessed to see at least one bear feasting on salmon. We then drove 23 miles to spectacular Salmon Glacier. The road follows the toe of the glacier at mile 17, so that gives you an idea of its size.

Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007, Hyder, AK

Today we just took it easy. The weather was not too good. It was cloudy, and there were some showers. In the afternoon it looked better, so we drove over to the Fish Creek area and watched the bears again. There were three brown bears
in the creek. We were able to get some good pictures of them fishing and feeding. We came back to the motorhome and had a late church service with Doug Bachelor. We certainly have enjoyed him as our DVD pastor on this trip, when we were not in an area where there was an Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Friday, Sept. 7, 2007, British Columbia

We were up early today in hopes that an early-morning drive might award us with more animal sightings and were not disappointed. First, in the distance there was a mother moose with her calf, and then another moose very close to the road. During the day there were five bear cubs along the shoulder and ditch of the road, but we saw no mother bears. They must have been hiding in the growth along the highway, as the cubs were too young to be on their own. We arrived in Stewart, British Columbia late in the afternoon. After setting up in a campground, we drove about 6 miles to Hyder, AK to a viewing site for bears. The National Forest Service has set up a protected boardwalk along a creek where both brown (grizzly) and black bears fish for salmon. There was only one brown bear in the water. We watched for an hour and then returned to the motorhome.

Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007, Yukon

After overnighting in a nice campground outside Whitehorse, we
continued our journey South on the Alaska Highway. Our next point of interest was the Teslin Tlingit Heritage Centre. They have totem poles outside. Inside they displayed a large number of intricately-carved wooden masks. There was a beautiful-handmade woman’s jacket made out of leather and beads. A native lady had made it for her granddaughter. We ended our day in rest area on the Cassiar Highway. It is part of the Western route to and from Alaska.

Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007, Yukon

We dry-camped at Carmacks in the lot next to a service station where we had the propane tank filled. We have really been using the propane, keeping the furnace going in the evenings and overnight, as the temperature has been in the 30's at night. We keep the motorhome temperature around 67 during the night. Carol had read about finding agate rocks near Carmacks, so we stopped at the place were they were supposed to be. The sign by the highway said to hike about 1/3 of a mile to a clearing. We did not see any in the clearing. The sign also said geodes might be found about 1/4 mile beyond the clearing. We located a trail and must have hiked close to a mile up a mountain. It got steeper and steeper, and there were a number of switchbacks. John, who was quite a distance ahead of Carol, decided it was not safe to go any higher. The picture was taken by Carol, and it was much steeper up ahead where John was climbing. As we traveled down the trail, we noticed a place where some digging had taken place near the trail. This was probably about 1/4 mile from the clearing. We had not noticed it going up. Well, the view from up on the mountain was great; and we needed the exercise. What we

thought might take an hour at the most took way over two hours. We arrived in Whitehorse early afternoon. One of the few things we did not see on our first visit to Whtehorse was the SS Klondike. It is one of two sternwheelers that have survived, since they discontinued using them in the mid 1950's. The other is the Keno in Dawson City. The SS Klondike was the largest sternwheeler built. Passengers and freight came to Whitehorse by rail from Skagway, AK. They would then transport miners, their families and freight by riverboat to Dawson City and other locations.

Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007, Yukon

We left Dawson City, after a visit and tour of Dredge #4. It is the largest wooden-hulled, bucket-line dredge in North America. This and other dredges operated along the creeks of the Klondike into the 1960's. They were able to process tons of gravel each hour. Mining is still the #1 industry of the Yukon Territory. The valleys are scarred due to the dredging. There are very large heaps of “tailings” deposited by the dredges. The Yukon Government now controls mining operations and requires the land be restored when they finish mining an area. There are places where tourists are allowed to pan for gold and keep what they find. The rest of this day was in travel to Carmacks

Sept. 2 & 3, Dawson City, Yukon

We entered Dawson City by ferry. The Yukon Government provides a free ferry service across the Yukon River. Once the river is crossed you are in town. At the visitor information center, they told us the Palace Grand Theater had a schedule of events and sold tickets to the ones requiring admission. This was the best-organized information of an area that we have encountered so far on our trip. Canada also celebrates Labor Day, so it was a holiday weekend. The big event for the weekend was the “Great International Outhouse Race”.
There was one entry from outside North America. The winning team was the Blue Angels, made up of dance hall girls from Diamond Tooth Gerties. They were young and probably in better physical condition due to their occupation. At the Commissioner’s Residence an actor described the problems of death and disease in early Dawson. The same actor was at the Robert Service cabin to talk about the poet's life and recite some of his poetry. A Parks Canada interpreter, in period costume, gave an interesting 90-minute walking tour of the downtown area of the city. We watched two films at the Grand Palace Theater and visited the museum. The following picture shows the panoramic view of the city from Dome Mountain.

Saturday, Sept. 1, 2007, Yukon River Campground

Today we stayed in this campground. Church service was by DVD. We were just a few yards from the Yukon River. These Canadian Geese had been feeding on the river bank before we disturbed them. In addition to these, we saw a v-shaped flight of them overhead. I guess they are heading South, and we need to do the same. It is already what we central Floridians would call winter. We have had nights in the mid 30's. Daytime is usually about 65 to 70. We hiked along the river about half of a mile and found three old riverboats in the stern-wheeler 'graveyard." They had been beached and abandoned many years ago.
Riverboats were the main means of transportation for this area until the Klondike Highway from Whitehorse was built in the mid 1950's. We also saw a red fox walk through a campsite near us.

August 31, 2007, Chicken, AK

Yes, there really is a town with this name! It consists of two campgrounds, a cafe, a saloon, two gift shops (one with fuel) and a post office. The population is 21 in summer and 6 in winter. It was founded as a gold-mining town. The mining operations have ceased. Chicken was supposedly named by early miners who wanted to name their camp after the bird, ptarmigan. Unable to spell it they settled instead for chicken, the common name in the North for ptarmigan. This morning we awoke to a beautiful sunrise.

We were up early in order to take a grueling 3-hour, 100-mile trip to Eagle, AK. They have a walking tour of this old town at 9:00 in the morning. It was founded in 1897 as a supply and transportation center for miners. There was a military installation in the early 1900s. Ft. Egbert was a key communication center for Alaska. Lt. Billy Mitchell, who later became a general and was famous for advocating a U. S. Air Force, was in charge of running a telegraph wire from Port Valdez on the coast to Eagle. The road was all gravel with potholes, washboard, and it was along stretches where there were deep ravines with no guardrails. After the tour we had to return to Chicken to recover the motorhome, We left Chicken after trying some gold panning at the campground but were not successful. We left Chicken and headed for the Yukon border. The whole route to the border was gravel but somewhat better than the one we had taken to Eagle. We crossed the border and were awarded with a paved road which we traveled to a few miles short of Dawson City, Yukon.
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August 30, 2007, Tok, AK

Today we did what we had planned and looked forward to for weeks. We had scheduled a flight with Forty-Mile Air out of Tok to deliver the mail to Chisana, a remote village about one hour from Tok by air. The mail is delivered there every Monday and Thursday. The plane also carries in some supplies. This is a village which can only be reached by air. On the flight to and from Chisana we flew over some very rugged terrain. We were able to see several herds of Dahl Sheep. We were so far away from them that the pictures of them are not too good. We passed a number of glaciers and just before landing in Chisana the pilot flew us over the Chisana glacier. We were just a few hundred feet above it. It was a real thrill. A number of the local people came to meet the plane. They are expecting it and this must be a big event for them. A few of them have ATVs which have been brought in by a larger plane. The young fellow carrying what looks like an ice chest was our pilot. The older lady sorting the mail is the unofficial postmistress. She and her husband live in Chisana year round. The rest of the population leaves for the winter. Some just fly in for the hunting season. The mail was sorted into the big box, which had dividers for mailboxes. When everyone present had gotten their mail, the box was closed with a tarp. After returning to Tok we drove to Chicken, AK.

August 29, 2007, Valdez to Tok, AK

Today was another 250-mile day. We saw many mountains with glaciers. The highlight of the trip was stopping about 60 miles from Tok to visit Henry and Margaret Scott. Henry grew up in Avon Park. He moved to Alaska over 40 years ago. He was a patient of mine one winter over 30 years ago when he visited his family in Avon Park. He has several relatives who have been patients of mine. We had a nice visit with them and enjoyed the "million dollar view" from their living room and porch. These were Henry's words, and we agree. Their home is on a bluff overlooking the above river. You can see snow-capped mountains over 100 miles away.